Favourite Things For: Short Trips

January 29, 2018

Hi there, a major reason that I started this blog was because when I find something I love, I basically don’t ever shut up about it. I want to tell everyone – my mom, my partner, his parents, all of my friends, my colleagues, my Twitter followers. I need everyone to know about this amazing thing. So I started a blog, among other reasons, to talk about those things and spread the word even further.

Because of that I think it’s probably time – almost two years into the blog – to kick off a new series called “My Favourite Things”. Every so often I’ll be posting about my favourite things from different topics in the hopes of passing some of this wisdom on to you guys.

To kick things off I’m going to share some of my favourite items for short trips. I do a lot of little trips for less than a week, or even just a weekend, to see as many places as possible while working within my budget and allotted vacation time. This means, I think, I’ve gotten pretty good at packing for these little trips and there are a few items I love to get me through it.

Whether I’m on plane, train or automobile I try to only ever bring two pieces of luggage with me. My main bag is either a duffel I got from Forever 21 years ago (I should probably replace it but it’s still in perfect condition) or a small rolling suitcase. But my other bag is always a backpack. I have a lululemon one I got probably six years ago but right now my favourite is this beauty.

It’s fabric and thin which makes it easy to shove lots of stuff into it without it looking too full. Also very easy to throw in the wash if/when it gets dirty. There’s one pocket at the front and the rest is just open. It fits my laptop, books, my camera, wallet, water bottle and more. It’s like Mary Poppins bag.

I got this from my partner on our first Christmas together because mine kept leaking and I wanted one with a straw top, so I can drink while running on the treadmill without soaking myself. He thought it was going to be my least favourite gift but this $16 water bottle plus the additional straw top was so thoughtful I was over the moon.

I’ve been using it ever since and would highly recommend it as well as the additional lid. One quick tip though, don’t use the straw lid on planes, the changing pressure causes it to overflow and leak out. But the regular top doesn’t.

Especially because I live in Canada it can be difficult to find a truly versatile show. I’m a big fan of these (I wear them with tall roots socks – how Canadian can you get?) but they’re not exactly packable in a small suitcase. If you’re going to bring them you have to wear them so keep that in mind. But whether it’s freezing and snowy, rainy or you’re just going to be out in nature, these usually do the trick.

This was an amazing gift I got my friend Rowan this Christmas. She got it in my favourite colours and monogrammed it. It has come with me on basically every trip since. It’s another one of those bags that doesn’t take up that much space but you can just keep filling it. I use it for all of my beauty products (that aren’t makeup), toothbrush, toothpaste, sunscreen etc. which brings me to…

Even if you aren’t flying you probably don’t want to lug a full bottle of product with you around, especially on a short trip. I also have discovered that I’m quite fussy with my beauty products and don’t want to go without. So I picked up this set of mini decanting bottles from Amazon and love them to death.

One quick tip with this: label them. I use a thin tip Sharpie marker to write whether it’s shampoo, conditioner, body wash, makeup remover or moisturizer since it turns out all of those things look very similar out of their bottles and you don’t want to be rubbing body wash in your eyes. Or mixing up the containers when you’re refilling these.

I keep each container filled and in this pouch so I can just quickly grab it wherever I’m headed.

What are some of your favourite items for quick trips? Is there another favourites style post you’d like to see from me?Follow